The second-hand market in the US is losing interest. According to a survey conducted by CivicScience, more than half of the respondents interviewed in February 2021, 56% stated that they were not interested in buying second-hand clothes at all. Since then the proportion has been growing, it has increased 8 percentage points with respect to the previous year.
In relation to sales channels, the physical business reflects the trend. 55% were not interested in shopping at thrift stores in 2021, up from 50% in 2020. When it comes to online thrift shopping, the share of uninterested US consumers has dropped since the 2020 survey , and the proportion of second-hand e-commerce users has increased 1 percentage point to 15%. A look at the different age groups could still give a glimmer of hope for the secondhand e-commerce industry in the United States.
Although the proportion of those who are not interested in buying from resale websites is clearly above 50% in all age groups, several significant differences stand out. The younger the buyer, the greater the interest in second-hand e-commerce. While only 11% in the 55-year-old age group have bought from resale websites or at least intend to, the proportion among 18-24 year olds is 36%, and 28% already has experience in second-hand online shopping. As this group of consumers ages, it could make second-hand online shopping more common among older age groups as well.
On the other hand, in terms of gender differences, it reveals that many more women use online reselling sites than men. 26% of women are users, compared to just 16% of men. Therefore, the results of this survey can provide valuable clues for the industry: the most lucrative target group in the second-hand e-commerce business in the US seems to be young women.
